Char Pointer Printing

[Oskar]

Hello! i dont understand how you can do this:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
  char *pName = "C++";
  
  cout << "pName: " << pName << endl;
  return 0;
}

Why is the adress of the first element in pName not being printed?
and why does it print the whole array?

Hope someone can help with this.

Thanks.

[guestgulkan]

That is the way it works with char*.
If you want to print the address you have to cast it to some other type of pointer - casting
as a pointer to void is the method most people use.
cout << "pName: " << (void*)pName << endl;

[Oskar]

Thanks for the answer guestgulkan.

But i still dont understand it full i know that it do it but i dont know why it do it.

the pointer is pointing on the first element.


Thats why i dont understand it.

[guestgulkan]

Part of this is appears to be that you do not quite understand pointers.

pName is a pointer (in this case it is a pointer to char) - so *pName is the object being
pointed to by the pointer - and this is the C character.

so cout << *pName will only print C.

When you do - cout << pName - you are passing the pointer itself. And cin will print out the whole string. In other words it would do cout << *pName, then cout << *(pName+1), until it has stepped through the whole string.

[Oskar]

Thank for the answer guestgulkan i know that *pName will print C. I writed wrong
before.

but many thanks guestgulkan now i understand it.

Thanks for the help.